Kingdom Hearts re: Venture
by Vacurai78
Summary: I've been having these weird thoughts lately... Like...am I alive? This seems so much like a dream...but I can feel it too... I have been here before... But why?
1. Enter the Heart

_**Kingdom Hearts**_

_**Re: Venture**_

**Civaruxa: Hello there, everyone! So very sorry for not putting this on for a while since I said I would, but I have had trouble getting my computer to work.  
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**Xarayla: About time.  
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**Axel: Get it over with!  
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**Civaruxa: Okay, okay! I'm hurrying! And…there! The finishing touches are done. Here it is, the more-than-likely-not-long-awaited Kingdom Hearts Re: Venture first chapter! *computerized fanfare plays and Axel gives a thumbs down*. In a review, based on this chapter and the music videos I have prepared, tell me Pathway A or Pathway B depending upon where you want it to go. The first video may either be A or B, and the same for the second, so choose carefully. Oh, and whenever you hear a battle section, a Dive to the Heart, or other such KH thingy, feel free to hum or think of any of the tunes from the games. **

_In the World That Never Was where the heart may not prevail_

_A boy shall arise for darkness bright;_

_A girl of many forgotten trails_

_Shall meet with him one night._

_The two will soon lose and to lose is to find _

_And lost in the heart is the strength of the mind_

_And then out shall be put his sun, _

_And a lantern shall contain his light,_

_Two friends to the ends_

_Of earth he shall wend_

_For this journey shall end at only a beginning,_

_And what is to lose but to find?_

* * *

><p><em>I've been having these weird thoughts lately…<em>

_Like…am I alive?_

_This seems so much like a dream…but I can feel it too…_

_I _have_ been here before…_

_But why?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I don't care if you skip this section, but it's pretty good. Insert cool music video set to Utada Hikaru's Sanctuary (if you can, I'd recommend that you play the songs in the background while you read this. Even if you don't have it downloaded, you can still listen to this one from KH2 or 3582 Days):**_

_**Remember, Vacurai.**_

_**"There's one advantage to being me—something you could never imitate."**_

_**You are not alone.**_

_**"My friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"**_

_**Light and dark will bow to you—**_

_**"Right, Ventus?"**_

_**and you will close the door.**_

_**"Vacurai."**_

_**"Yeah?"**_

_**"Do we have…hearts?"**_

_**"I don't know. If there is something there…inside us…then we'd feel it…right?"**_

_**"True enough. What do you think, Lilith?"**_

_**"Mm—hmm. Sounds good to me."**_

_**Vacurai closes his eyes, and opens them a moment or two later. (Waah—wahh…wahh—wahh…) He summons Full House with a flourish, and Xarayla, the girl across from him, holds a conductor's baton. They clash violently, then parry each-other's attacks and roll away. In between the two we see stars falling; they are red, green, and blue in the shape of Wayfinders. The thirteen thrones of the Organization appear, but they are crumbled and a single hooded figure sits in the remaining unbroken seat with Vacurai, who is also wearing the cloak and coat. Suddenly, we switch to when new members come into XIII, and Zexion sits in the center seat by himself. Vacurai and Xarayla stand at the base, weapons drawn, and the Nobody runs down his throne, lexicon blazing. Vacurai runs to meet him, and when they battle in midair he looks like Sora for a moment. **_

_**Castle Oblivion fades into existence from grains of sand. It flashes once as The Land of Departure Castle, then Ventus's throne pops up and we see Aqua's feet walk towards it. Everything goes dark and Roxas's name appears in white, straight up and down, shooting apart suddenly. Then Larxene, then Marluxia, Luxord, Demyx, Axel, Saix, Zexion, Lexaeus, Vexen, Xaldin, Xigbar and Xemnas; but, after a moment of nothingness two words appears. (Dun, dun da dun dun dun dun da dun dun dun da dun dun dun dun da dun,) **_

_**Civaruxa. (Sieve-ah-rux-a)**_

_**Xarayla. (Zahr-I-la) **_

_**(I watch you, fast a-sleep,) Sora and Namine pinkie shake; and Roxas attacks Axel. Suddenly, we see Roxas's heart release, and it floats through the darkness until it collides with a surface—and the ground turns into a turqoise Station of Awakening. (All I fear…means nothing…) The background becomes white, and Lilith and Prism whisper something on each side of the screen. Vacurai hangs from a ledge in the aforesaid gray wasteland, about to fall; a brown-and-gold set of armor grabs his other hand and hauls him up. They draw their weapons, charge at eachother, and the symbol XIII flashes white, counting backward slowly. The countdown moves to the corner of the screen, and Sora grasps for Riku's hand. He cradles Kairi in his arms, and then let's go of her hand as Riku says "Take care of her." He pushes open the doors to Castle Oblivion, and his body switches to his older self, then Roxas, and then Civaruxa. Xarayla stands right beside him as they walk through the halls, and when they reach the large World Door a cloaked figure stops their progress. "Soon…the lack of your heart will save many more than your heart could have saved you."**_

_**"What do you mean?"**_

_**"Find out for yourself."**_

_**The cloaked figure disappears and a World Card is in his place. A card that reads "The Crossroads." Civaruxa holds it up to the door and it flashes as the two step through. **_

_**On the inside is a world of brass. The first hall holds Aqua and Xehanort fighting; the second is filled with older Riku and Sora battling Xemnas; the third has Roxas and the Clocktower. In the fourth hallway is a multi-colored Darkside; and through the next door is a platform exactly like the one under Radiant Garden. The two burst through, followed by a blue wispy girl, and draw their weapons on account of seeing a shadow floating down from the sky. It has Xehanort's gray Keyblade in its hand, and when the shadows dispel it is a brown-haired boy. The group attacks the monster from all sides, but everyone is thrown back except for Civaruxa. **_

_**They parry each-other's attacks. "Who are you?"**_

_**"Your doom." **_

_**Vacurai jump strikes, and in the slash of his Keyblade we see the throne from before; but Ventus is not in it, a red-head is. Aqua walks up to him and looks him over. "Is this boy lost too? Maybe I should give him some protection." She materializes a Kingdom Key in his hands, searching him once more. "Not all who wander are truly lost."**_

_**"You seek answers, am I correct?"**_

_**A red-head stands in the tide on Destiny Islands as Xemnas materializes and walks toward the down-cast wielder. "I don't need answers."**_

_**"Yet I can give them."**_

_**The letters **_**V-a-c-u-r-a -i**_** appear in transparent blue and swirl around wildly until Xemnas waves his hand and a golden X stops them moving.**_

_**The boy looks up and blinks. "Civaruxa."**_

_**"That is right...the new you."**_

_**Vacurai stumbles, seemingly having been pushed, and falls backwards; but the ground turns bluish-black and disappears. He floats through the darkness with his eyes closed, and with a flash of light he says something.**_

_**"Right, Ventus? I'll be back… and Aqua and Terra will be there, too."**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Insert cool music video set to Utada Hikaru's Simple and Clean:<strong>_

_**Vacurai floats through the darkness. As the song begins in the background, we show the three Wayfinders rotating around Ventus until a flash of light transforms him into younger Sora. He dispels the darkness by summoning his Keyblade and charging at Maleficent; the camera spins around once and then Riku is in the place of Sora. After he lands a strike or two, Aqua parries the possessed Terra, and they backflip away, revealing a white room with a throne in the center that is occupied by Ventus. Sora shakes Namine's hand, elbows older Riku in the stomach, and then his younger self releases his heart. **_

_**('You're kidding me,') Vacurai's eyes open. **_

_**He is in a gray wasteland with a white-haired girl with blue tints in her hair (Xarayla) facing him, and both Xarayla holds a set of cards. They clash violently, and when Vacurai jumps backwards he charges with a brown haired boy on his left and a black-haired woman on the right.**_

_**The scene switches to the Twilight Town Clock Tower. Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas sit eating sea-salt ice cream; they turn into Roxas, Axel, and Xion, but Xion, who sits on the end, slowly disappears. We show the other four minus Roxas; and Lilith, Leal, Vacurai, and Prism sit eating ice cream on the palm tree on Destiny Islands. **_

_**(How far are we into the theme song? Nowhere near done? Grr…) At sunset, Xehanort's gray Keyblade falls out of the sky and impales itself in Destiny Islands, and glowing Unversed swarm out of it, threatening to take over the world until Leal picks it up. He swings at Vacurai, knocking his weapon out of his hand and planting his foot on his chest. ('When you walk away, you don't hear me say, "please, oh baby, don't go."' This one stretches to the next quote.) Vacurai rolls to the side, retrieving Full House, and points it skyward as the background turns white. The three Wayfinders rotate around the Keyblade, turning it into the Wayblade (brown Wayfinder set into the hilt, blue Wayfinder keychain, half of the green Wayfinder the keytip, and the rest is curvy and colored to match the Wayfinders.) Vacurai points the Wayblade at Ventus in the throne, and a beam of light shoots out, engulfing everything. ('Simple and Clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight, it's hard to let it go')**_

_**We see the bottom of Lilith's mouth say something, and then on the other side the same happens with the raven-haired lady. ('Hold me, whatever lies beyond this morning is a little later old,') Vacurai clings onto a ledge in the aforesaid wasteland, and he is about to fall when a suit of armor helps him up. The armor suddenly dissipates, and a pink door pops up out of nowhere, which Vacurai proceeds to enter. ('Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all, nothing's like before,') **_

_**('Hold me,') Once inside, a blue wispy woman appears at his side. They are now in a bronze room, running toward the door at the end. In the next room are two Disney characters (your choice) dealing with something, and through all of the next five rooms there are more characters. Some are fighting, some are lost, some are trying to escape a monster. ('Whatever lies beyond this morning is a little later old,') When they push through the last wall we come out onto a metal platform like the one in Hollow Bastion. A shadowy figure descends upon Vacurai and they tussle. ('Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all, nothing's like before,') The ground shatters, and Vacurai floats through the darkness. (badda-badda-baa…sorry about that.)**_

It was dark. Really dark. Dark enough to swallow me whole. But that didn't matter. I was more concentrated on the lovely floating feeling that passed through my whole being as I sank through the depths, twisting and spinning around in slow motion…

I connected with ground and stood up.

_Where—?_ The sentence stopped dead inside me. It had no way to finish, no way to start over and no way to end. My foot moved of its own accord, and suddenly the surface beneath me was bathed in light. When it disappeared, the floor was made of turquoise stained-glass and spread out for at least thirty feet. On the right side of the gigantic circle was me. A picture of me, that is. I had my eyes closed and I held a Full House, a Keyblade. The hand guard was a hexagon of cards; the keychain was a heart symbol; the blade was a wand; and the tip was the top of a top hat.

_Keyblade. How do I know that?_

I shrugged the idea off and returned to the image. Around my head were pictures of people: an orange haired man; a wild, white haired young woman; Leal and Lilith took up the next two a black haired girl was in the third one; and in the last two circles were stars. The left side of the large platform was occupied by a purely blue lady with hair of the same tinge. Her eyes were closed too, and she had a Keyblade with a round gray hand-guard, a straight copper rod for the blade, and a jagged, golden key tip that reminded me of a crown.

"_I remember you…your name is Vacurai."_

The words had dropped out of the air. There was no sound to the voice, but I could still understand what it said.

"_Something is not right. You shouldn't be here—you don't have a heart."_

_Of course I have a heart!_

_"You just think you do. You were born without a heart, but I had to be created to keep you alive."_

_Who are you?_

_"I can't say. Just remember that I'll always be here, and you can always count on yourself."_

The area around my hand flashed, and I held up my weapon. I had a sense that everything was wrong; and apparently I was right. A sharp, glowing figure popped up out of the ground, followed by another and another and another, until I was surrounded. They were about waist-high, but they were certainly dangerous and it took a second for me to realize that I had to defend myself. "Bring it on!" I shouted, swinging my Keyblade wildly.

They swarmed toward me, and I slashed at them. I got a scratch across my arm, but it only made me mad so I destroyed the monster with a jumping strike as it vaulted at me. "Hyaah!" Another swipe and a second disappeared. I hopped onto one and struck it repeatedly, while it trampled the remaining four underfoot. The thing bucked me off and I landed on my rear, but now the odds were even. "One left? Honestly, I thought this would be more of a challenge." My Keyblade whistled through the air, dissolving the monster and returning to my hand.

I expected the mystery person to congratulate me, but no one spoke. At the northern edge (at least, I thought that was north) nine or ten stain-glass squares led to another circle in a curvy pattern. The pathway was nowhere near safe, seeing as there were large spaces between a few, but I wasn't afraid of anything so I ran towards them and jumped over the gaps. More of those beings from before tried to stop me, but I hacked until they were gone and continued.

The second circle was pink. Not my ideal choice, but whatever. The picture here was of a large, also pink door, with elegant handles. Next to it was a heart shaped like my keychain. The left half was yellow and purple while the right was light blue and dark blue, yet the shades didn't clash. On the large doors other side was a giant key. I guessed it was also a Keyblade; the stairs disappeared, leaving me trapped. After frantically searching for them I turned back around, but this time the picture of the door was three dimensional and three cloaked figures stood in front of it.

The first removed his hood. He was brown haired and very tall, and I realized he was speaking:

"_Darkness lies in every heart, but with darkness comes light. The only thing that sustains our World is an equal balance of both forces, and very few have the same inside themselves. There have been those who have wanted total darkness, and those who wished for light. But, since neither can co-exist without the other, the battle has always been equal. Some have tempted fate to prove they are strong. Others have done it for mere curiosity. I cannot truly say what path is correct. But you will forge your own way, as the ones before you have."_

The second one was a blue-haired young lady that was also tall. She smiled at me.

_"Don't be afraid of the journey. It will be tough; you will meet new friends and perhaps some old ones. There will be near unconquerable hardships, impossible sadness, and battles you will lose; but don't be afraid. Both Light and Dark will guide you, sustains you, and aid you."_

The third one did not show his face, but I could see a sprig of blonde hair sticking out. He had a different kind of aura to him, like he was just a ghost of some sort. He seemed to have the most effect on me.

_"And don't forget-"_

They parted as I stepped up to the door.

"_Light and Dark will bow to you—_

_and you will close the door."_

I pulled on the handle.

When I stepped out I was back on the first station. There was nothing here, though, except me and my shadow. I wandered around for a few minutes trying to figure out what I was supposed to do next; then, an earthquake shook the ground, nearly knocking me off my feet as I spun around.

A glowing…thing stood poised, ready to attack. It was made of three-dimensional shapes—elongated diamonds for arms and legs, sticks for fingers and feet, a square for an eye-less head, and a triangle with an "X" carved in it for a midsection. I drew my Keyblade, swinging it out behind me, and charged. Before I could get there, though, the monster disappeared.

I looked over the edges, wondering where it could have gone, when a semi-truck rammed into me and I rolled, my face connecting painfully with the glass; and then it had me in its grasp. I shouldn't have been able to do anything with my arms beneath its stick fingers, but I twisted up onto the arm. I nearly fell off as I ran along the diamonds, yet I made it to the head and swiped and slashed for all I was worth.

"Come on! Can't hit me, can you? Ha ha!" I swung around the head, jumping back down to the ground. My enemy (if you could call something like that a being, much less an enemy) separated into several parts and shot at me, some on fire, some frozen. I tried parrying them, but they cut right through me at hyper-speed and disappeared.

There was pain in my back and I was flying upwards. The stick-thing—now whole again—had apparently thrown me up into the air and he looked like he was going to take a swing. A surge filled my limbs and I did a backflip, still in the air, and threw Full House at my attacker. It struck him in the head, returned to my hand; and light filled the sky.

The station was whole again. My enemy was stretched out flat, and I took the opportunity to deal damage. After a few moments the monster stood up, posing in some strange way, and small swirling portals opened around me. Out popped smaller versions of the monster, about my height, but still just as dangerous. I cut them down to darkness, wondering why they hadn't put up a fight.

Suddenly, white glaring eyes appeared all around me, blinding me and making my head hurt; and in the corner of my vision I could see two diamonds spinning towards me. I mustered all my strength, jumped as high as I could, pointed my Keyblade to a hole in the wall, and fired a bright beam inside. The eyes disappeared, and my enemy stood in front of me once again.

"You think something like _that_ can stop me? Ha! Playtime's over!" He charged at me, bending his body, but I sliced and hacked at him as he contorted and stretched. Two fingers gripped my feet as I flipped on my side in the air, and I kicked out, free again. I rolled backwards, dodging the bolts of light, and vaulted sideways. My weapon spun around me, and I shouted to the winds "Burden of Light and Dark!" An orb of light shot towards the enemy while black shards of dark flew down from the sky and struck it.

I covered my ears as the thing roared and staggered a bit.

_**You…you are not worthy of a Keyblade! I will be back…and then I will exact my victory!**_

The monster dissolved into nothingness.

"Whew! That was…that was…whew…" My shadow stretched and grew, but it wasn't because of the light...it was…real now. Before I knew it, the darkness had collected in a puddle at my feet. It rolled up my ankles, to my waist, and I flailed and struggled; but it closed over my head as I screamed and blacked out.

_Remember, Vacurai._

"_Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about."_

_You are not alone._

"_Together, always."_

_Light and Dark will bow to you—_

"_My friends are my power, and I'm theirs!"_

_And you…_

…_will close…_

…_the door._

**Civaruxa: So, what do you think? This is my first Dive to the Heart, but it isn't where I first learned of the Keyblade.**

**Demyx: Wow…that was…boring!**

**Vacurai: Oh, come on! I thought I did pretty good. **

**Xarayla: I guess I have to ask you viewers to review, so Civaruxa can get an honest reaction to how bad he was.**

**Civ: Hey! **


	2. A Rock and A Heartless

_**DAY THE 1**__**ST**_

_**A Rock and a Heartless**_

**Vacurai: Shh! Don't make any noise what-so-ever! (Lilith sneezes and Leal puts his hand over her mouth.) We're hiding in the tunnel-like ducts underneath Twilight Town. A giant sewer Un-Light is prowling around down here, and until we can get Xarayla and Prism down here we're not fighting that thing! (There's a set of eyes in the corner, and he jumps) Aah!**

**Leal: Vacurai! Shush! We're hiding from the monster, not trying to find it.**

**Vacurai: (gulp!) I think he just found us!**

**?: No, it's me. **

**Vacurai: Oh, sorry about that, little moogle. Well, while we wait for our reinforcements, you can read my ridiculous life story.**

**Lilith: I second that!**

**Everyone: Shh!**

"Ooogh…" I rubbed my head and sat up. Whatever that dark thing was it couldn't have been good. _At least I'm still alive,_ I thought, and sat up. _First thing's first: take stock of my surroundings. Okay…we've got some rocks…some grass…blue sky…but it's not home. _I inhaled deeply and lay back down, hands behind my head. _I don't think I'll _ever_ see home again._

_Home was quite vivid in his mind. The sandy beaches, the happy children laughing…and _oh_ how he missed her. Who? Lilith. That one word could stop time and space for Vacurai. He'd hear her say her name and he would faint—almost, but not quite. She'd smile at him and his heart would melt. They were always off on some adventure somewhere. Leal would tag behind them—no, not behind them, ahead of them. He'd encourage Vacurai to do something crazy, and then he'd blame his friend for it. But still, as much as those islands and his friends were part of his past, Vacurai knew they'd be part of his future. Part of his "Destiny," you might say._

"Hey! Who're you?"

I blinked. Did I just…imagine what sounded like a…like a duck talking? I sat up on my elbows and looked around.

"I said, who are you?"

"Hold on, Donald, let me ask him. Gee, you can be so impatient sometimes."

Okay. That sound was definitely coming from behind me. I got to my feet, grimacing at the ground for a moment, and turned around. There was a brown haired boy with spikes crazier than mine in his hairdo; then there was a duck—yes, a duck!—right next to him that wielded a staff; and on the other side a dog stood who was much taller than the first person and held a shield. The trio approached me and the boy offered his hand. "Hi! What's your name?" he asked.

"Vacurai." I shook his hand.

"My name's Sora." He scratched the back of his neck and motioned to his comrades. "This here's Donald Duck, and this is Goofy. We work for the king."

"What king?"

Donald gaped at me. "Whaaaa? Don't tell me you haven't heard of the King?" Goofy looked equally shocked.

"No, actually. I haven't heard of him. And what's going on? What happened to my island? Why am I here now?" Suddenly Sora looked like he'd been hit with a rock between the eyes, and Donald and Goofy did a double take. "What? What's wrong? Is my hair messed up?" I ran my fingers through my red locks.

"There was a prophecy that said that another boy would come from Destiny Islands, strong than any before. I came from Destiny Islands too, along with Riku, and Kairi. They're my friends and fellow Keyblade wielders." He seemed deep in thought. "I just…well, I guess, I never really realized how much friends could mean until I went on that first journey."

"What _is_ a Keyblade, exactly?"

"An—aaaaactually, it'd be easier to show you." The area around Sora's hand flashed and he held up a giant key. "It's exactly what the name states. A Keyblade is a weapon that can only be wielded by the hearts of pure light. It can unlock any door, any treasure chest, anything with a lock on it; and to boot it has the qualities of a weapon. Do you have a Keyblade too?"

I nodded and brought out Full house. Sora didn't seem surprised, though, seeing as he already knew about the prophecy.

"Hold on…Is there…someone watching us?" I only said that because I felt an aura of menace behind me, so I turned around. Hundreds of black…things had popped up out of nowhere and surrounded us. "What are those?"

Sora dropped into a fighting crouch and backed up to me. "They're called Heartless! We've fought them in the past, but I've never seen this many."

"What should we do?" The only thing I could think of to do was what came naturally to me— standing around uselessly.

"We attack them!"

* * *

><p>My weapon spun wildly and connected with the shadows. Donald cast a spell and blasted several of the Heartless out of existence, while Goofy tripped over a rock and accidentally landed on a Yellow Opera, destroying it.<p>

Sora linked hands with me and threw me towards the monsters. Some sort of burst, maybe, filled my limbs and I raised Full House as the sky clouded over. "Give it up!"* _Okay, this is getting reaaaaallly creepy. Do I even have control of my voice anymore? _Thunder shot down and struck several Heartless around me; then I lowered my Keyblade and dashed across the field, water swirling around me that destroyed all the dark monsters it touched.

A Large Body punched me in the stomach and pounded me into the ground. Before I could recover it bashed me again, but then disappeared underneath a Keyblade. "Here." The brown haired boy (gosh, I REALLY need a better nickname for him) handed me a jar with a cork holding it closed. "Drink. And keep your guard up!" His attention was diverted away from me again, and I gulped down the delicious liquid as fast as I could, noticing that I felt much better already.

"Hyaah!" I threw myself back into the fray. We weren't doing too well—there seemed to be more than there were before. A Silver Rock popped up beside me, but before I could destroy it the Heartless disappeared, exploding on my other side.

"There's too many!" I shouted.

"Right! This world's being overrun by Heartless way too fast. Let me open a corridor!*" Sora waved his hand and a swirling vortex opened next to me. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me in, and the next thing I knew we were on darkened ground.

"That was clues! Uh, er, I mean close!" Goofy giggled a bit.

"Now where are we?"

"Hmm…there's only one place that I know that's so creepy: Halloween Town." I noticed that our outfits had changed also to fit the locale: in place of my white and black striped jacket and gray jeans I had an invisible right arm—thankfully, I could still feel that it was there—and a tattered gray suit with one sleeve.

"Raargh!"

Donald shrieked, jumping into my arms. A very tall, very thin man with a round head appeared out of nowhere and laughed at the duck's reaction. "Boy, Donald, you should've seen the look on your face! You know that I like to scare people."

"I'm not scared of anything!" He got down and strode up to the tall person who seemed to have a skull instead of a head. "I couldn't be more, uh…not afraid!" A mouse dashed out of a crack in the ground and ran over his foot. With another shriek he flung himself towards me, but I didn't have my arms out and we collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"Ouch!" I groaned and rubbed my head.

Sora stood over us. "I thought you said you weren't afraid of anything."

"'Anything!' in particular!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>P<strong>__**r**__**i**__**s**__**m**__**R**__**a**__**i**__**n**__**1**__**3**_

I listened to the thunder and rain outside for a second. Then I got up out of my chair and walked around. Working on a Kingdom Hearts fan-fic took a lot of…well, work. My ideas crumbled to dust when I sat back down at my desk again, and I sighed. _What to have them do…what to have them do…_

The window shot open, whipping the curtains out and I leaped up and tried to shut it. _What the…I should be stronger than this!_ I frowned and gave up, resting my hands on the sill. With a slam the window closed—right on my fingers (Yee-ow!); but then the door blew open for some reason. _Okay, who's playing a prank on me now?_

_"Prism."_

The voice had come out of nowhere. Nursing my hurting fingers, I glanced over to the wall to see a set of golden brown armor. "What…wait…I…alright, Sam, come on out! You can turn off the projector now."

_"I don't know what you mean by projector." _He stepped up to me, and I swallowed nervously, trying to figure out if I'd fallen asleep while writing. _"I do understand that you don't believe we're real, however. Yet, we are real. Only half of my being is here, as you know, but that does not stop me from asking you to help us."_

"H-help?" I choked out.

_"Yes. A boy by the name of…Vacurai, is in trouble. He wields a Keyblade like the rest of us, but he does not know the true extent of its power and you must find him and help him with his troubles before he is destroyed by it."_

"But won't people miss me?"

_"No. I will copy you. Your current self will go on this quest, while the copy will stay here and eventually see Vacurai through and inter-dimensional window. Do you understand? No one will know you are gone, and you will have someone to work on those…'stories.'"_

I half nodded. The lingering-will pointed his Keyblade towards the still open door and created a portal to the Lanes Between that led to who knew where. "Hold on a moment. " I walked up to the armor. "I need to something to protect myself. Or are you going to accompany me throughout the worlds?"

Okay, so I was asleep. Doesn't mean I shouldn't milk the dream for all I could get.

_"No. I must go back to the Keyblade Graveyard so my friends may find me. I cannot survive long outside that World."_ I crossed my fingers, hoping I would get what I wanted. _"If you must have some means of protection, then here."_

A white staff of twisted wood appeared in my hand. There was a—get this—a rainbow prism at the top where white branches wrapped around the object that glowed. "Um…what's this?" It wasn't a Keyblade, that was for sure.

_"Your unique weapon. Few people actually have one from birth. I simply unlocked your ability to use it."_

"But what does it do?"

_"Once you have the capability to, you can change your weapon into anything you wish to attack with. Right now all you have is the wand, but it is still useful."_ The lingering will walked up to the portal and motioned for me to come on.

"O-okay."

He passed through the blue light and I looked around. For some reason… I didn't want to leave. As I stepped up to the Lanes Between teleport, I turned around and saw the copy Terra was speaking of. 'I' was sitting at the desk, snoozing away; and as I stepped through the opening I knew I was putting behind me my life.

* * *

><p>My hands clutched at empty air. I was falling slowly through water, gulping in mouthfuls while I tried to scream for help and swim back to the surface. But nothing helped. I was starting to get light headed as my vision went black, and the next thing I knew was a pair of arms wrapped around me as I lost consciousness and drifted through the lovely darkness.<p>

Then I spluttered up water, coughing and choking as light intruded on my sight, and I sat up and hacked and spit for all I was worth. "Ow…I so hate water…" I ran my fingers through my soaked black locks and sighed.

"You'll be fine," said a voice from behind me. He walked into view, and I noticed that the boy had blonde, gravity-defying spike-hair, a black and white jacket and jeans of the same style. "Your chest might hurt for a while, but it'll go away. I wonder why you didn't become a mermaid when you fell in the ocean…"

"Come now?" I stood up and rolled my neck. "Why _didn't_ I become a mermaid? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, sorry. This place is called Atlantica. Under the waves there's a society of fish and mermen/maids swimming around and living their own life. Anyone who comes from outside and lands in the water that far down usually becomes half fish (or octopus, or turtle, or…) but you didn't. I saw you floundering down there and I dived in and hauled you out. What's your name?"

I smiled at him, despite my appearance. "Just call me Prism. How about you?"

"I'm Roxas. Nice to meet you."

He glanced back to the sea, smiled, and grabbed my arm. "Where are we going?" Then I saw he was running towards the ocean, and I jerked in his grasp. "Oh no! Oh no you don't! I'm not going back in there!" We plunged into the freezing surf and kept running—well, Roxas was the only one running. I was more or less being dragged and seriously thinking about casting Firaga on him when the water closed over my head.

"Prism? Prism…wake up!"

I blinked. Then I remembered I was underwater and held my breath until I had to exhale and suck in…air.

A blue-tailed merman shook me by the shoulders. I had no idea who he was, or where I was—and then I noted the boy's yellow hair. _Oh! _I looked down at myself and saw a mottled green bra and turquoise tail, and it kind of amazed me. _I'd almost forgotten what he meant by 'mermaid'._

"Oh hello, Roxas. I haven't seen you in a while." Roxy glanced at the red-head and then did a double take.

"Ariel! How've you been? I thought you went to the surface world."

"Well, every once in a while I come back down here. What brings you to Atlantica? Are you following Riku?" She just now noticed me and smiled in my direction. "Hello there. Who is this, Roxas?"

"Her name is Prism. I just met this girl up there and thought I'd show her this world."

I shook Ariel's hand. "Nice to meet you." I was going to say something about how nice this world was, but then my train of thought was interrupted. "Wait. Did you just say you saw Riku?" She nodded. "Was there another boy with him?"

She gasped. "How did you know?"

"I'm following him. We need to meet. Which way did they go?

"That way." Ariel pointed towards a crevice. "Some kind of sea-monster swam through here and they decided to go after it."

"How long ago?"

"Just now."

I grabbed Roxy-boy's arm and kicked towards the crack. "Thanks! That's all I need to know!"

* * *

><p><strong>Prism and Xarayla sit atop a golden glowing alligator with a spiked tail. Lilth is kneeling in the water, looking at something, and Leal is seated on crate. <strong>

**Readers: Hey, where's Vacurai?**

**Leal looks up and smiles. "Oh, he passed out in the water. Missed the whole fight. Don't worry, he's fine, but his chances of being a hero aren't looking too great. **

**Lilith shakes the boy in the water. "Come on, Vacurai. Wake up!"**

**Leal hangs his head. "Could you review his story for him, please? He needs all the help he can get."**


	3. Memories

_**DAY THE 2**__**ND**_

_**Memories**_

**"Are you really sure you want to fight me, Vacurai?"**

**"I'm sure!"**

**"It's not too late to shuffle out."**

**"I've had enough of your games, Luxord! Just play!"**

**"Very well then. How I love a game!"**

**"Duck!" Lilith pulls the camera down. Leal, Sora, and Prism are watching a screen made out of the only light in the darkness. "He might feel your presence!"**

**"Who might?"**

**"The Shademaster! He's trapped us in this place, and while we're waiting for Vacurai and Xarayla to come to the rescue we're watching Vacurai's past." Weapons clang onscreen, and there are various yells and taunts. The darkness that everything floats in shakes once or twice, and suddenly the sky becomes white.**

**"Aargh! My bad…" The camera is laying on its side in the middle of a very white hall. Vacurai walks over and picks it up. "Well, I…I accidentally closed the dark rift, so I have to re-open it. You can come along if you want. Or…I could play the second day! Here." He presses a few buttons and the screen goes dark.**

* * *

><p><em>"Who are you?"<em>

_"Your doom."_

_"Leal! Are you okay?" _

_"Vacurai, please…just…put an end to me."_

I had no idea where I was. I thought it was dead for a second, but then I realized I probably wouldn't feel anything if I was. The sky was black and the earth beneath me was also dark, but that didn't really matter that much to me.

"Hey, you there! Tell me who you are!" I spun around. A young lady in a black coat with crazy white hair held a baton in her right hand. It was oddly shaped and clearly not just for composing music with; but why am I thinking about this? She might have a concealed weapon! "I said, who are you?"

"Uh, okay, okay! My name's Leal." She scanned me up and down, then uncrossed her arms. "Where are we?"

"This is the World that Never Was. Kind of ridiculous, seeing as we're standing on it. Where are you from?"

"Destiny Islands. Wait a…wait a second! I'm really on another world! This is amazing! I knew they were out there, but I never thought I'd see one! …Can I ask your name, or are you going to stab me with that baton of yours?"

"I'm Xarayla. Now, to cut to the chase, do you know someone by the name of Vacurai?"

She looked like she was going to give me a very painful ear-ache if I didn't answer her truthfully.

"Why should I tell you if I do?"

"So that's a yes." She turned away for a second, then said, "How about we go for a walk? I bet you're curious as to why you're here." Xarayla disappeared, then I felt the press of a sharp object into my spine (probably the baton). "Then again, I could always drag you along to the next world without your consent."

My feet started moving.

"Why am I here? You said you would tell me."

She sighed. "Your world has been connected...tied to the darkness, blah blah blah. Basic speech everyone gives to people like you nowadays. The only reason you're hear is because Destiny Islands was engulfed in shadows. Someone—or something—did that to your world, and it is happening to others. Again. I thought Sora and them went and fixed the problem...Well, I'm trying to track down your friend. Vacurai wields a Keyblade, but it is special. More powerful than any yet. He has to use it to save a heart and release a heart, and he does not even know why he has it."

"You're bringing me along in this quest for what reason?"

"You guys are definitely going to meet up again. Everybody who's been to Destiny Islands can find the other person they were with, so if you tag along with me we'll find him in no time."

"How are we going to get off this world to go search for him?"

"There's probably something in that big ol' castle up—wait a second! Where's the Castle that Never Was? I could have sworn it was there last time I was here!"

"When were you last here?"

"Uh…two years ago. But something like that should be permanent!"

"Are you going to go look for it?"

"You're coming too. Don't make me attack you with Syrimphonics. In other words, don't let me beat you up with a baton."

I smiled. I liked this rough-and-tumble lady already.

* * *

><p>Vacurai<p>

"So, what brings you to Halloween Town?" Jack Skellington tossed some coals in the fire and settled into the giant black chair beside it.

"Well, you see, we were being chased by some Heartless, but we decided that we should come check up on you." Sora scratched his head and grinned sheepishly.

"Oh! How thoughtful, and just in time for Halloween too." The rag doll Sally—apparently she was made of cloth—smiled.

"_Please_ don't remind me, Sally. I've got even more pressure this year thanks that person who stole all my ideas!"

"Who was that?"

Jack turned to Sora. "Hmm…well, I can't remember now that I think about it. Give me a while and I'll get back to you."

I blinked. It's not that this wasn't interesting. I'd just defeated a bunch of monsters and teleported to another world, for goodness sakes! But…man, I was…tired…

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, just a little exhausted, that's all."

"Why don't you go take a nap? We've got a spare bed downstairs."

I nodded.

* * *

><p><em>"Not all who wander are truly lost."<em>

_My eyes shot open. I was draped across a throne in a large room. There was a gigantic door that was a very light shade of gray, but other than that and the strange symbols on the wall everything was white. Wait a second…where am I? This doesn't seem familiar. _

_"Draw your weapon and ready yourself for the tasks ahead."_

_The voice in my head danced around and circled my brain. There was no form to it, but it seemed to have common sense so I held my hand out—and suddenly I gripped a giant key. I swung it through the air once or twice, then I stood up and looked around._

_"Behind you, Vacurai!"_

_I spun. Six or seven white…things, hovered behind me._

_"Use the Keyblade and destroy them! They will try to stop you along your travels."_

_The first one flew at me and I sliced it in half. Then the second and third came forward, but with a spin and a roll they were gone. My legs were kicked out from underneath me and I landed heavily on my stomach with a yell. The monsters piled onto me and I vaulted up, blowing them away with an extra twist; and they were gone. _

_"What were those things?" I didn't know if the voice would respond to questions, but I could give it my best shot._

_"They are called Dusks. A lower form of Nobodies, by-products of when a heart is released from a body. There's a different breed called Heartless, which spawn at the same time."_

_A green light shone down from the ceiling onto the ground, and next to the circle was a fuzzy animal with a red pom-pom on its head. The thing was cute, if you asked me, but it wasn't there a few seconds ago so I decided to keep away._

_"You can keep track of your memories by standing in the light. Trust me, it'll keep you alive in more ways than one."_

_Once again, I complied with what the mysterious voice wanted me to do. I couldn't really feel anything different, but when I turned away I felt revitalized. I think I even had a little pep in my step, which was new to me. "Time to move on," said the voice. "You've got a lot of work to do, picking up the remnants of Castle Oblivion and returning it to its original self."_

_"Where do I start?"_

_"The door."_

_At the base of the tall door was a card. On the front side was a dark city backed by a gigantic castle that I assumed was Castle Oblivion; but the words on the back read 'The World That Never Was.' "Hold this card up and you will be taken to your destination. Once the link is open you may come or go whenever you want, but only if you find another light."_

_"How did you get to know so much about this place, anyways? Aren't you just a noise in my head?"_

_"Nope. I've been stuck in this place a while. My friend brought me here…but she hasn't come back yet. If you see her…could you bring her with you, please?"_

_"Sure. What's her name?"_

_"She goes by Master Aqua."_

* * *

><p><em>The World That Never Was happened to be extremely black, which was bad news for my eyes since I was now used to whiteness. I strolled through the streets, rain slicking my red hair to my scalp. Even the moon was gloomy—a yellow-and-purple heart that was the only source of light. So far, the only thing here other than a bunch of Heartless were lots of wrecks and abandoned buildings.<em>

_A huge skyscraper blocked off most of the sky. I was curious as to what was in there, and I was about to go try the handle when a rumble nearly knocked me off my feet. I drew the Keyblade with a flourish, searching the ground for any signs of my attacker._

_"Oh, what do we have here? Another toy to play with?"_

_"Where are you? What are you talking about?"_

_A woman in a black outfit appeared in front of me. She had bright yellow hair and throwing knives griped in her hands that were the same color, but I had the strangest impulse to get away from a field of evergreen trees. _

_"I meant what I said, fool. You're the second stranger to come by today. There was a girl, but she overpowered me and ran."_

_"Do you know her name?"_

_"Why should I tell you?"_

_"Because I asked nicely!"_

_She back-flipped and hopped up onto a truck. "You'll have to catch me first!"_

* * *

><p><strong>"Foolish boy! Do you never give up?"<strong>

**"You should try it sometime! Hyaaaah!"**

**Full House whistles through the air and a dark figure groans and sinks onto its knees. "It-it can't be! I'm not that weak and I…I won't give in to…graaaaaaargh! You will meet your fate soon, boy! SOON!" The monster dissolves into nothingness and Vacurai retrieves the camera. **

**"I hope you didn't catch any of that. There aren't supposed to be any spoilers, or secret reports, or anything like that. Excuse me for a second." He raises the Keyblade and points it at a lock in an iron door, which swings open with a creak moments later. "Thank you. Where were we?"**

**"Vacurai!"**

**"Lilith! Leal! You're okay! How did y—"**

**The camera fades to static.**


	4. Lost and Found

_**DAY THE 3**__**RD**_

_**Lost and Found**_

**"Hey there! So far today we haven't had any action, so Sora and I decided to go down to Pure Ocean's Cafe."**

**Sora snaps his fingers. "That reminds me! When is our vacation over?"**

**"I think its next week. Not really sure. You'll have to ask Kairi. Oh, and didn't you guys make a bet of some sort?"**

**"Didn't you write this down already? Didn't you write this down already?" **

**"Yep. I called it 'Kingdom Hearts Lost Stories.' Wait a minute…weren't we in the middle of a story?"**

**"Disclaimer first."**

**"Oh, right. I, Vacurai, do not claim ownership of anything I chose to use here, from Kingdom Hearts Characters to Utada Hikaru songs. I only own my OC's, myself, Leal, Lilith, Xarayla, and even though there is a real PrismRain13 I have created a character who has black hair and also has an account to fan-fiction, but I don't know why I even mentioned that."**

* * *

><p>"I thought she said there was a <em>boy<em> with him!"

"Well, she does look sort of like a boy with that scruffy haircut."

"I'm not scruffy! Just…underbrushed, that's all."

I rolled my eyes. Riku and the other person, which we had just discovered was a girl, were sitting on a seashell, relaxing. She still had her human legs, and was dressed in an ankle-length blue dress, which blended in well with the seat and matched her eyes.

"Well, might I ask your name?"

"I'm Riku, this is Lilith, and we met on the cliffs. We were chasing after a Oceaell, but it got away. Who are you?"

"You already know Roxas. My name is Prism, and I'm searching for a boy by the name of Vacurai."

Lilith gasped. "Vacurai?"

"You know him?" I hadn't seen her in any of the games, or heard of this Vacurai person, but I was all for continuing this awesome dream.

"He and…Leal…and I…we live on Destiny Islands. But it disappeared into the darkness, and we narrowly escaped with our lives."

"Have you seen your friends lately?"

She shook her head. Riku put an arm around Lilith and patted her back. "Well, you'll see each-other again. If you want, I could help you with that."

"We'll come too!" I blurted out. The three stared at me, and I half smiled. "You heard me. Roxas and I will go with you to find…what was it, Leal and Vacurai? We can find them."

"All right." Lilith smiled. Her black hair swished wildly as she jumped up. "Where do we start?"

* * *

><p><em>"You really are a slow-poke!"<em>

_"I'll just…just give me a…just give a second, okay? Whew…"_

_The yellow haired girl swung down from the sign and landed on her feet in front me. "If you can't keep up, then maybe I should just destroy you!"_

_I straightened up again. "You want a fight? Bring it on! Playtime's over!" I threw my Keyblade at the stranger and she dodged it, rolling to the side._

_"Ha! That's all you got? Give up now!" She threw her knives up into the air and they sparked once, then impaled themselves machine-gun style where I was last standing. _

_"Hyaah!" I charged toward the yellow haired girl and hacked at her with Kingdom Key. She responded by bringing her knives forward and trying to jab them into my arm; but with a back flip and a high jump I blasted her off her feet with a pulse of blue light._

_She scratched me several times before I was able to block and cast Fire. "You're just a toy!" The young lady spun her weapons with a jolt of electricity towards me, but she missed and got sliced in the back twice. _

_"Let's see how you stack up!" I manifested seven more Keyblades and fired them in my enemy's direction. They struck the ground, creating dark pockets with giant white ears spinning around that knocked the stranger left and right. (Abracadabra)_

_"I'm gonna break you!" She raised her arms upward and a giant bolt of lighting frazzled my brain. Then another behind me, and next to me, until I flipped her onto her back with a twist of the Keyblade. She tried to push me away and succeeded in dodging my attacks, but when the girl threw her knives at me I blocked them and stabbed my weapon into the ground._

_"Now you see me…!" I teleported behind her and tossed her into the air. I slashed and swiped, leaving trails with my key-tip, and with a flourish I slammed the girl back down onto the pavement._

_"Aaargh!"_

_I landed on my feet and strolled up to her unconscious form. At least, she was pretending to have been knocked out. "Alright. Who was the girl who came by?"_

_She jumped up and hopped backwards. "That's all you fought me for? What a waste. Her name was Xarayla, and _I _am leaving."_

_"Wait!" But it was too late, she had already disappeared into the ground again._

* * *

><p><em>A green light appeared next to me and I stepped into it. I wonder how I'm supposed to get back to Castle Obliv—<em>

_"You're back already?" I was sitting in the throne in the huge white room at Castle Oblivion. How I got here was a mystery to me, but it was nice not having to walk back. "Do you have any questions?"_

_"Um…yeah. Number one: who was that? And number two: I feel as if I've been here before. Are these…memories, or are they…happening now?"_

_The voice was silent._

_"So…?" I gave a halfhearted chuckle._

_"That was Larxene, a member of Organization XIII. The Organization was defeated by a boy called Sora, but seeing as they were Nobodies they came back after both their Heartless and Nobody was destroyed. Only a few of the thirteen remain, but they're an awful bunch. I'd stay away if I were you."_

_"And the other question?"_

_"Okay…they're memories. You're really somewhere else right now. But this 'now' happened a few months ago. You were still sleeping when Aqua brought me here ten years ago, and you only woke up today. Wherever you are now, you're remembering these things because something triggered them in your brain."_

* * *

><p>"Vacurai! Get up!"<p>

"Yaagh!"

My face connected painfully with the floor and I slowly stood up. "Ouch…why not just shake me?"

"Because!" Sora shouted, "We're being attacked!"

I drew Full House. "Where's the Heartless? I don't see anything." The house shook, and if my instincts were right we were being lifted into the air. "So? Where's the monster?"

Donald and Goofy pointed up.

Oh.

I just figured out where the Heartless was.

* * *

><p><strong>"Could I have the Waffle Meal, please?"<strong>

**The waitress bowed and walked back inside. Vacurai ran his hand through his hair and put his sunglasses on. "Well, I gotta get going. I promised Prism that I'd meet her in the sparring arena."**

**"They have a sparring arena here?"**

**"Yup. You and I should practice someday. Oh,**** before I go, I'd like to thank all of you for reviewing. If you have any suggestions as to what should happen next, please, could you send in some ideas? Thanks! And sorry about the short chapter. I'm short on ideas."**


	5. Three Plus Two Minus One

_**DAY THE 4**__**TH**_

_**Thirteen Plus Two Minus One**_

**Vacurai: Hello everyone and/or assorted Nobodies! I've been waiting a long time to say that. Today we have the full story of my past. I will not skip around to anyone else (partly because I have no clue what I should have them do) seeing as I have an insane impulse to finish my beginnings up and get on with everything else.**

**Demyx: Doesn't all that talking hurt your jaw? I prefer to relax my mouth and—**

**Vacurai: You prefer to goof off. I know. Okay, everybody…ONTO THE STORY! **

**Xion: WAIT! Why aren't I in here?**

**Vacurai: You left the Organization, and you were a puppet—but that doesn't mean I hold anything against you. Okay. No more interruptions!**

**Roxas: But what about that giant Heartless outside?**

**Vacurai: End of the chapter! Yeesh.**

_I was back in the city. That girl, Larxene, was still nowhere to be found; and despite the Voice's advice I was intent on finding out what Organization XIII was. I stopped walking and looked around. I was at a dead end, but I could see a giant castle floating in the sky. There had to be a way to get up there, I just know there was…Suddenly, the sky in front of me flashed. A nearly clear pathway lead up to the huge building, and I jumped onto it, deciding that I'd had enough of this mystery._

_"Hello? Anyone home?"_

_On the white ground a black portal opened, and out stepped a gray haired young man. He was dressed in a coat exactly the yellow girl, but he had a bored air about him and carried a large book under his right arm. "Who are you?"_

_"Um…my name's Vacurai?"_

_"You're an intruder."_

_"Well, uh, I just wanted to…uh…join the Organization!"_

_The teenager gave me an exasperated look. "You're not a Nobody who regained his heart, yet you wish to become one of us. Why is that, I wonder?" I shrugged. "If you are so inclined to become a member, then I will ask Vexen. Come, follow me." He grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me back into the portal. Now we were in a gray room with three giant, broken windows and a few people in one corner. "Vexen! I need to speak with you."_

_A green-eyed man stalked towards us. He looked kind of sinister, and I wondered what I was getting myself into when he started speaking. "Ah, Zexion. Who might we have dragged in here this time, hmm?"_

_"He says his name is Vacurai and he wants to join us."_

_"Even though he has always had a heart, unlike us, and has no experience whatsoever?"_

_"Hey! I can fight!"_

_"Oh, really? Do you even have a weapon?" Vexen summoned a shield and grinned at me, while I flourished Kingdom Key and took up a fighting stance. He gasped. "What—I…do you...have you ever known someone by the name of Sora?"_

_I shook my head. "Nope. I thought we were going to fight!"_

_He reassumed his pose. "If you can best me, then you may join. Zexion, stand back!"_

_The next thing I knew we were on a pure white platform with a few columns sticking up along the sides. Vexen charged at me, and I slashed at him only to rebound off his weapon. "I've had enough of this!" I felt the air around me go cold, so I rolled to the side and a chunk of ice shattered behind me._

_"Show me what you've got!" I held my Keyblade in front of me and dashed through my assailant. He groaned as I repeated the effect several times, but on the last stroke I hopped backwards and flung my weapon into the ground. "Re-draw!" Pillars of light blasted down from the sky and knocked Vexen off his feet._

_"You're pushing it!" He knelt and put one arm to the ground as ice stalagmites shot toward me. I sliced at him and casted Fire, but he blocked everything. "Come on, Vacurai! That's really all you got?" He dissolved into liquid and reappeared behind me. The only reason I know that is because he had a grip on my shoulders, which seemed to stiffen me immensely. _

_"The chips go to me this round!" I tossed him away, a burst of energy filling my limbs. I grabbed Kingdom Key by the chain and spun it around in a circle, damaging Vexen and making him stumble. Another impulse helped me to avoid his bolt of ice and cut right through his defense; and I was just about to call down Thunder when Zexion appeared between us and thrust us apart._

_"Hold on, you two!" We stopped mid-battle, halted by two open books, and we were suddenly back at the castle. "I have just been going through this boy's memories and he has already taken on Larxene today and survived. I think we should allow him at least a trial period. If he can perform missions well, then good for him. He gets to stay on." _

_We lowered our weapons. "And what happens if I'm bad at missions?"_

_"Somebody will more than likely kill you. Or, to put it more politely, you will more than likely be eradicated." _

_Charming thought._

* * *

><p><em>My room had one window, a bookcase, and a white bed. When I went inside I assumed I'd be alone, but no, there was a girl sitting on the edge of my bed, staring out the window. She was about my height, maybe a little taller, with wild white hair that had blue tints in it, and she too wore the coat that I had just donned. "Hello there."<em>

_Before I could react, she had me pinned to the wall, face close to mine. "I told you to stay out of here! Oh…wait. You're not Zexion." She let up and I sank to my knees, gasping for air (she'd pinned me to the wall via my throat). "Sorry about that. Zexion and Lexaeus have been harassing me since I got here this morning."_

So that's why they were reluctant to let me join,_ I thought. _Already someone new besides me._ "Just so you know, I have a heart."_

_"We all do. We got our hearts back after our Nobodies were destroyed."_

_"Oh."_

_She brushed her hair to the side. "So, what's your name? Or should I say, what do they want you to call yourself?"_

_"Civaruxa. Yours?"_

_"Xarayla." She stretched and yawned. "Good night."_

_"What?"_

_"I'm going to bed." She lay down on the white sheets and pulled her hood on. "I've had a long day. I had to run from a yellow haired woman just a few hours ago. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap. Or do I have to report that to you first?"_

_"Where am I supposed sleep? I'm not going to lay on the floor."_

_She scooted over towards the wall. "You can sleep here beside me. Don't worry, I won't bite. And no, this isn't weird in any way. Just pull up your hood so I can't see you drooling."_

_"Who says I drool?"_

_"I didn't know that you—I was telling you that in general! Yeesh. Just…go to bed."_

* * *

><p><em>I met the remaining members of the Organization in the morning. There was Lexaeus, Zexion, Vexen, Larxene, Luxord, Marluxia, Xarayla, and me. I was surprised to see that everyone looked so normal, instead of the deranged beings I thought of them as. Luxord was actually playing a game of cards with Vexen, and I was actually betting on the ice-master up to the time he lost. Guess you need more than brains to beat someone at cards. <em>

_Zexion was leaning on the wall. Xarayla and I approached him, but even before we got there he disappeared and rematerialized on the couch. He looked in our direction and frowned. "Well then. You're finally here." Then he was at the window, now back in the seat, now watching the card game. "Are you two ready for your first mission?" _

_We nodded, and when Zexion turned his back I whispered in Xarayla's ear. "I thought he had dominion over illusions."_

_"That's why it looks as though he can teleport. He's probably still leaning on the wall."_

_"Oh."_

_"Today you will be conducting recon. The world is Destiny Islands, and while we know everything about who lives there and how the boy called Sora defeated us once before, we do not know what is going on there now."_

_"If you were defeated before, then won't Sora be suspicious of anyone wearing a black outfit?"_

_"That's why I'm giving you the task. Surely such 'prodigies' as you can figure out how to sneak around without being seen." He waved his hand and a dark corridor opened behind us. "Go now, while it is still dark there. You might just make it back alive."_

* * *

><p><em>Destiny Islands was exactly what I thought it would be—silent, beautiful…but absolutely deserted. <em>

_"Are you sure Zexion got the right place?"_

_"Yeah, I know what you mean."_

_From our perch in the palm trees I could see some movement on the beach, but all I could make out were four figures sitting around a campfire. We'd have to get closer if we wanted to learn any more than that, but the only hiding place on the beach would be if you buried yourself in sand and waited for someone to come by. I suggested that we wait until one of the figures made a move, and then grab him and interrogate him. We sat there for at least an hour until a brown-haired boy came by, and then we ambushed him by dropping onto his back and pinning him to the ground._

_"Hey! Let go! Rrgh!"_

_"Shh! Quiet. Who lives here?"_

_"Nngh…me, Riku, and Kairi."_

_"Who was the other person on the beach?"_

_"King Mickey. He decided to stop by and check on us. Now, if that's all…!" He twisted in my grasp and pushed me away, bringing forth a Keyblade exactly like mine. "I could call my friends to help defeat you, but wouldn't you rather leave?" I shook my head and materialized Kingdom Key. Before the boy and I could clash, though, Xarayla grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me into a dark corridor._

_"What are you, crazy? I could have beat him!"_

_"No you couldn't! His name is Sora! I should have known it the moment he said his friends' names."_

_"And how do you know all this?"_

_"I used to see Kairi in school. But then she disappeared, and so did Riku and the brown-haired boy, so I decided that I was going to find them." She shook me by the shoulders. "Don't you get it? If you go back there he'll destroy you and the rest of us too!"_

_"No he won't. I'm going back there whether you like it or not!" I jumped back through the portal and closed it. Then I felt a blow to the stomach and I fell flat on my back. Sora stared at me and brought down his Keyblade right on my head, and I blacked out._

* * *

><p>"Sora! Did you hear that? Whoa!" Sally tumbled past me as the house was tilted on its side. Jack pulled her up and Donald and Goofy clung to me for dear life. "Wait a minute! Where's Sora?" I pointed up to the roof, where sounds of Kingdom Key striking things echoed loudly. "Shouldn't you three be helping him?"<p>

"I would if I could get these two off me!" Donald and Goofy glanced at me and then shoved me away.

"You can go help! I'm, uh…I'm afraid!"

"Yeah! Me t-t-too!"

I rolled my eyes and nearly fell out the window. We were being tossed about, and I'd had enough of it!

* * *

><p><strong>"Alright, someone please tell me why this is not getting any easier to do?"<strong>

**"I don't know. You're the writer, tell us."**

**"Yeesh. Okay, everybody, what do you think of my story so far? I'm not convinced that it's great, but it'll get better if you can tell me what I'm doing wrong. So please review! This has been your neighborly wacko Vacurai reporting, and now signing off."**

**"…who you talkin' too?" **


	6. Truth Betwixt

_**DAY THE 5**__**TH**_

_**Truth Betwixt **_

**Vacurai: Okay, I lied about the heartless. I had to omit him because I needed a break for the bathroom. And a break to keep Malefi-Ray from killing me. **

**Readers: Who?**

**Vacurai: Sorry about my slip of the tongue. She's just another friend of mine.**

**Lilith: Oh, come on! Tell them already! Please! (gives Vacurai puppy eyes)**

**Vacurai:…awwww…hold on a—just stop it, Lilith! Please don't give me that look!...rggh. Fine. Malefi-Ray is a friend.**

**Readers: You already said that!**

**Vaucurai: That's all you're getting for now. Oh, and just so you know, I've published another story called **_**The Roads We Take**_** that's about Roxas, Xion, and Roxas—uh, er, I mean Axel.**

**Lilith: Any teasers for **_**The Roads We Take?**_

**Vacurai: Um…no. **

**Lilith: How about a sneak peek? Pleeeeeease?**

**Vacurai: NO! And stop giving me those eyes!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Leal<strong>_

"We've searched the whole world _twice _already, and you _still_ think you're going to find The Castle That Never Was? I'm starting to doubt it was ever here!"

"Actually, no. I was looking for someone the second time."

I lifted my head. "Somebody besides Vacurai?"

Xarayla nodded. "He wears a black coat like me." We were sitting in alleyway. I was slouched against a wall and Xarayla was seated on the doorstep next to me, with rain pelting down on our backs and drenching us. Well, drenching _me._ The tomboyish girl had her hood up, and I'm sure it offered more protection than my shredded newspaper.

"Oh, by the way, how can you know my friend? He's always lived on Destiny Islands and I don't remember you, or that Sora you told me about earlier. Didn't you say he came from our home-world too?"

"Vacurai hasn't always lived on Destiny Islands."

"What?"

Xarayla jumped up suddenly, looking around expectantly. She drew her baton and assumed a conducting stance while I grabbed a metal pipe off the ground. "I said, he hasn't always lived there! Now, be quiet! I'm trying to concentrate."

"On what?"

"Shush!" She took a few tentative steps forward and then spun around, catching a golden thing out of the air and flinging it down. It suddenly got up and rushed towards her, but she somehow made her baton really long and blocked the scissor-like hands that attacked out of nowhere. "Leal, duck!"

Another one shot over my head and she kicked it in the stomach, but several more swarmed in front of Xarayla while one dropped down in front of me.

It was skinny, with thin accordion arms and legs and clawed hands and feet that nearly resembled a person's. The monster had a square mid-section, a detached diamond head, and shoulders with a cape attached. "Uh, Xarayla?" The thing swung and I bashed it with my pipe. "We're in trouble, aren't we?"

She smiled as I forced my way over to her. "Yeah." The tomboy cast fire. "Think we can fight them all?"

"Only if you keep up your end!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Vacurai<strong>_

I opened the hatch to the roof and a gale nearly blew me back inside. Gripping the lightning rod tightly I jumped out, placed my feet on the sold ground, and landed smack-dab in the middle of a fight between Sora and a red-haired person wearing a white coat. The winds had suddenly stopped, and Sora stared at me disbelievingly and lowered his Keyblade. "Vacurai! How can you be in two places at the same time?" Then I noticed where I was, and I nearly fainted.

The hall was entirely white. The lookalike of mine who stood at the other end of the hall had Kingdom Key D in one hand and a Full House that looked like mine but with the colors swapped in the other. His white coat looked like the ones Zexion and those other people wore from my dream, and he had a black star-shaped charm on a string around his neck. "Oh, right. I forgot about that. Well…" the copy-cat ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, here's the situation. Past me, you have no idea what's going on, but you have to go with what I'm about to say. Sora and I have to have our little spat, so go back inside and send Donald and Goofy up. You'll find a dark corridor outside Jack's house, and it will lead you where you need to go."

"Hold on just a moment here! Why all the shaking and flying around?"

He frowned. "Uh, erm…I've created a vortex up here, and it's pulled the building inside. Don't worry, it'll pass once we've finished battling…Oh! And to make sure that everything goes according to plan, you have to remember these words exactly and repeat them to Prism after you lose someone dear." He paused to swallow and breathe. "Okay. 'Look for the trail of trouble and you'll find me.' Then you have to smirk, and get out of wherever you are really fast."

"How far in the future is this thing you want me to do?"

"Oh, about…twelve or thirteen months. You've got a lot of stuff do, and I want to be around to remember it."

Somehow, considering my strange life, all of this didn't really surprise me. "One more question: why did they think there was a giant Heartless up here?"

Future me smiled. "Who knows? We're all a little bit heartless deep down, aren't we?" The hall shook unexpectedly. "Go! If you stay the vortex will explode, and Halloween Town will be covered in darkness forever!" He flicked his hand and hatch opened again. I looked wistfully around me, then jumped back inside the house.

"Hey, what's going on up there? Did you defeat the monster yet?" Jack, Donald, Sally, and Goofy looked at me expectantly.

"Uh, well...Donald, Goofy, Sora needs you up there."

They jumped up and ran to the ladder. "Wait a moment! Where are you going? We could use your help with that Keyblade!" The duo climbed their way up to the roof hatch, but Donald stopped at the top rung.

I opened the door and found the promised corridor. It was hovering in midair, and we were miles above the ground. "I've gotta go. Sorry, everyone, but the cards seem to be in my favor and I have to go and roll the dice!"

I jumped into the portal…

…and crashed onto cobbled stone, knocking myself out.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Prism<strong>_

Swimming like a mermaid was hard to get used to. Sure, it was like wearing fins and having your legs permanently glued together minus the knees, but it didn't make things any easier. At first, when I thought I was getting the hang of it, I accidentally flipped myself upside down and couldn't get right-side up for a good six minutes at least. Riku and Roxas, however, were gliding gracefully through the water, zipping around and leaving Lilith and me in the metaphorical dust. (Well, maybe not metaphorical.) They even broke into a battle/race at one point, and I was left to guide Vacurai's friend over the trenches and holes in the ground.

"So, Lilith, what are your friends like?"

She looked up and frowned. "Oh. Well, Leal's always getting into trouble with Vacurai, and I usually have to bail them out. Sorry. I can't think of any other way to describe them." _So she's supposed to be another Kairi…that means Vacurai is Sora and Leal is Riku._ "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." Suddenly, hundreds of yellow things swam into view. They had accordion arms and legs with claw like hands and feet on the end, with a diamond head and a square midsection. They were even glowing. "Oh, great! Lilith, stay back!" I summoned my white staff and pushed her behind me. This was going to be interesting, seeing as I could barely swim _and_ I'd never fought anything except my ambition to do something. Roxas and Riku were nowhere to be found, but I hoped they'd show up as the girl darted for cover. "Alright, who wants a piece of me? Uh...I didn't mean that literally!"

I raised my staff and Thunder blasted the first one into…light? I guess that's the right term for it. I kicked through the crowd, getting a few scratches in the progress, and bashed several with my weapon with nearly no result. _Come on! This thing is useless! Didn't Terra say I could transform it into other battle-implements?_ I closed my eyes and concentrated…and flourished a white hammer. "Uh…whatever! Time to take out the trash!" _Ooh, my first taunt._ I dodged the incoming claws and destroyed the three monsters next to their owner, then sliced two more with a spin.

I saw several of the monsters grab Lilith and try to drag her into the fray as she screamed. "Hold on!" Before I could get to her, though, some of them held me down also and pulled us further apart. "Rrgh! Let me go!" Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and we were standing in a white throne room.

"Who are you?"

I looked in the direction Lilith was facing, and there stood a girl with black hair wearing a white coat that looked like the people of Organization XII wore. She smiled briefly, and then said, "Who am I? I'm just a friend…Hello, Prism. I've been waiting a long time to see you."

"Yeah, I bet you have. Can I ask you a question?" The girl nodded. "What were those monsters called?"

"Un-Lights. Many years ago there was a threat called the Unversed. When the Keyblade wielders of the time defeated them all, they disappeared. But they re-awakened, and they were drawn to Kingdom Hearts."

"Where are you going with this?"

"When the Unversed met with the light of Kingdom Hearts they became Un-Lights: the ultimate monster. Faster and deadlier than any before, they're trying to find a special Keyblade so they can unlock the heart of all worlds and consume Kingdom Hearts." Our corridor shook. At the other end, behind us, where the largest shockwave came from, a brief image of Sora and a boy in a white coat fighting each-other appeared and then disappeared.

The black-haired girl posed in some way, summoning a white staff and dashing past us where the previous image was back. "See you in the future, Prism!" Darkness intruded on my vision, and I fell to the ground.

"Hey! Prism! Are you okay?" Riku and Roxas stood over me. "We heard the scream, or whatever it was, but we had to fight off the Oceall before we could get back. And then there were those monsters—the golden glowing ones—"

"The Un-Lights."

"What?"

* * *

><p><strong>Xarayla<strong>

The Un-Lights were slowly growing in number. Leal and I had been separated several times now, and I was running out of potions. Defeated, I slumped down against the wall next to the blond boy and lowered my weapon. "Oh, what's the use? They just keep coming! Leal, it was nice knowing you—well, actually, that's debatable." The monsters swarmed towards us, but there was a shrill in the air and they looked around before dashing out the alley way.

"What was that all about?"

"Dunno. We should go check it out…but only after…we have a short…break…." I stood up, stumbled, and passed out.

_I re-opened the portal to Destiny Islands and jumped inside. The subspace connection was like a sort of railway—you could board anywhere, but you had to find the place you were looking for before you could leave. As I entered the link to the islands, a blue shock of electricity passed through the air for a second, but afterwards everything was normal._

_There were no signs of Sora, Kairi, Riku, or Civaruxa, but there was a strange glow from the area past the bridge. _No doubt Civaruxa's there. He probably always getting into trouble._ I went inside the little shack and up the steps, and just as I was about to set foot on the bridge something caught my eye. There, sitting dazed against the skinny palm tree, was my new…associate. I didn't know enough about him to call him my friend yet._

_"Civaruxa! What happened?" _

_"Well…Sora hit me over the head, and I remember dreaming about falling through some sort of darkness. Other than that, I woke up here a few minutes ago with an intense headache."_

_"Anything broken? No loss of blood?" I said, then checked myself .Geez, I must be slipping. I was actually a little concerned for him there for a moment before I convinced my brain that I was worried about him dying because then I'd have to get help and reveal us to the public._

_"No, no, but I think my ego dropped out of the sky dead." I offered him my hand and pulled him up. We glanced in the direction of the light, and the strange boy smiled. "Wanna go see what's up?"_

_"Ready as ever."_

_I dashed across the bridge with Civaruxa behind me. The glare turned into a blaze, and I held my hand in front of my eyes as we stopped. A bunch of Heartless were clustered around a light-haired man in a coat like us, and he held two or three cards in each hand. "Civaruxa! Xarayla!" he growled. "So you've found out." The monsters in front of him turned around._

_"What are you doing here?" asked Civaruxa._

_"I was sent to spy on your hand. And eliminate this unlucky boy, of course." The Heartless faced us, and I noticed a few that looked especially starved. _

_"Not a chance!" I stepped in front of my associate. "Why did Organization XII tell you to do this?"_

_"They didn't." _

_The Heartless started moving._

* * *

><p><em><strong>Vacurai<strong>_

_We summoned our weapons and charged forward. Xarayla jumped and moved her baton as if she was conducting a symphony, but instead of music a flurry of colored slashes through the air attacked the monsters. I hacked a path through the Heartless, spinning wildly and blocking strikes from left and right. Fighting monsters was a piece of cake, but I was sure that we'd have to face the Luxord himself when we were finished._

_"Let the music move you!" shouted Xarayla. She hovered in the air and pointed her weapon to the sky; wide bolts of pure color shot down and made harmonic noises once they struck the Shadows, clearing a circle around the two of us._

_"Draw!" I shot a ray of darkness through the crowd and kicked one away with my foot. (Personally, I have no idea where I'm got these abilities, but I'm good with it. Helps me to live life to its fullest while trying not to die.) Two or three piled onto my back, and as the last one dissolved Luxord snapped and six Gamblers—lesser Nobodies under Luxord's command—fluttered out of the ground._

_"Song of loss!" Xarayla dispelled her weapon, and it impaled three Gamblers and destroyed them. I was too absorbed in the changing cards behind the Nobody I was fighting, and I pointed to one. Suddenly, I was about five feet shorter. I darted forward, possibly rolling a bit, and found that was all I could do._

_After a minute or two of this jumping around I became normal size again and struck out the last nobody. No, wait. There were two holding Xarayla back, and I was heading that way when everything disappeared into a world of white._

_"Ah, Civaruxa. You just don't have any chips left."_

_Luxord stood a ways off. "What did you do to her?" I half-hollered._

_"Oh, nothing. But you'll have to duel me one-on-one to get her back."_

_I dashed forward as giant Aces and Sevens spun around us. "Are you sure you want to fight me, Vacurai?"_

_"I'm sure!" It seemed as if I was almost moving in slow motion._

_"It's not too late to shuffle out." He stood resolute._

_"I've had enough of your games, Luxord! Just play!"_

_The cardmaster summoned his weapons and smiled._

_"Very well, then. How I love a game!"_

* * *

><p><strong>Vacurai: OOOOOH! What's going to happen next? I can't wait!<strong>

**Leal: Someone had too much caffeine trying to stay up and write this.**

**Vacurai: No, its just so exciting! I can't wait! ! What's going to happen next?**

**Leal: You already know what's going to happen! Ugh. I gotta find a place in this wasteland to let him take a nap. Please review, before I go crazy listening to this guy rave about not getting any reviews.**


	7. Return

_**DAY THE 6**__**TH**_

_**Return**_

**Vacurai is running along a canopy of trees with King Mickey, Axel, Prism, and Leal behind him. They are dodging flaming arrows from further up in the forest where the guard houses are, and trying to reach the fortress on the other side of this tree-filled world. As a group of Indian soldiers drop down from the sky they draw their weapons; and Vacurai notices you.**

**"Oh, hello—nggh—there! We've got quite a…a battle on our hands here, in case you haven't noticed." Axel's chakrams blast overhead as the Keyblade wielder strikes the nearby shadowy Indian replicas out of existence.**

**"V., uh, don't mean to bother you too much but, we're trying to NOT DRAW TO MUCH ATTENTION TO OURSELVES! So hurry up with you monologue and start fighting!" Prism shakes her head disbelievingly and turns her staff into a whip, using it to burn things further off.**

**"Yeah, Vacurai, I'm going to have to go with your lady friend on this one." Leal dives into the ground, disappearing into darkness and blasting up into the sky again somewhere else and creating shockwaves. Prism and Vacurai blush, but suddenly the two get angry and start shouting that they aren't each other's girlfriend—"er, uh, I mean boyfriend!"**

**King Mickey frowns. "We're surrounded! What should we do?"**

**Prism glances around nervously. "Hopefully Sora will come to the rescue. Unlike s**_**omeone **_**I know."**

**"Hey!"**

_**Vacurai**_

_I brought Kingdom Key down, flattening the first Dusk. I flipped over the next one, slicing through it; then I burned another with flames, and electrocuted two more. "The chips go to me this round!" I rolled backwards, summoning six more Keyblades, and fired them into the ground, creating a large dark pocket that sucked more and more enemies inside._

_"Your luck has just run out." Luxord snapped and the spinning sevens tried to cut through me, and I was only able to block one. _

_"Hyyah!" I hacked at the Dusks and charged through, destroying each one easily until I tripped and took a beating getting up._

_"Cards!" Luxord suddenly flipped into the fray and he must have cast some kind of stopping magic because I was immobilized as he sliced at me with his weapons. _

_"Re-draw!" (Hey, have you noticed how much our taunts sound alike? I never got that.) I blocked his next strike and pushed Luxord away, flinging Dusks left and right. "Time to lose!" I threw Kingdom Key forward and he deflected it, but it curved around and boomeranged through him back to me._

_"Civaruxa, are you up for a game?" Luxord twisted his hands and shot up into the air, with the remaining monsters following him. They swirled around and attracted to him, and suddenly there stood a giant Nobody, with tendrils for arms and an armored head._

_I charged the thing. It slammed its fists into the ground, me nearly dodging the cracks it created, and I got an idea. "Back off!" The hand nearly pummeled me, but I hopped on and dashed up it. "Come on! Can't hit me, can you? Ha ha!" I sliced at the head and tumbled back down to earth. "Let's finish this!" I threw my Keyblade into the arm and it sliced the left one off; then I teleported behind and caught it, flinging it through the other limb. I did the same with the legs, then I came back to start and sliced at Luxord._

_"Argh!" The Dusks reformed on the floor, as he floated in midair. He was dazed, but I couldn't get to him because of all the Nobodies. Rrgh! What to do? Maybe if I just…"Checkmate!" I spun my weapon and shot forward, tearing through the crowds with a pulse of light. "Playtime's over!" With a flourish I tossed Kingdom Key up, jumped and caught it, and brought it down with a shockwave into the illusion, shattering the white ground. _

_"No!" shouted Luxord, and I suddenly stood back on the small island with him facing me. "You've left me with no choice but to play my best hand!" He was suddenly surrounded by a wave of darkness, and when it cleared his outfit was now white. Luxord also wore a metal helmet that resembled a top hat, and his sleeves were fluttering wildly while cards spun around him in an X-like shape. "It was only a matter of time."_

_Another snap and I was trapped between two gigantic dice. I couldn't move a muscle as my enemy ran forward; he brought his weapons down and I kicked him away, (yet another "Back off!"), then I waited for the dice to shift, rolled backwards, and let Luxord slam face first into his own trap as the things closed again._

_"Care to gamble?" I shouted, flurrying him with my Keyblade and casting Fira, but he hopped around, dodging everything._

_"Hup!" Luxord turned into a card and sank to the ground, surrounded by others of his like. I flipped the first one and it dissolved, then the second and third; the fourth exploded along with the fifth, but the sixth was my enemy. I fired a ray of darkness into his now exposed defense, and he returned to his normal form. "Right the wrongs!" _What?

_I slashed him up and down, rolling around and evading his floating form. Suddenly, the X-shape of [I really need a better word for them] cards spun around Luxord really fast, widening into a full sphere and…electrifying? Was there no end to his tricks? He rolled around at high speeds, and for a moment I got caught in the attack, being slammed about left and right before I could get free._

_"Heal!" I cast a quick cure spell before darting through the Gambler of Fate with my weapon outstretched. He tried to escape, but I got him seven times before having to dodge._

_"This is the end!" Luxord jumped back and a dark aura surrounded our feet. Seven of his weapons were his height now and rotating wildly, and on an impulse I raised Kingdom Key to the sky._

_"Surrender the Heart!" Seven different Keyblades hovered in front of me. As Luxord shot the first card forward I blasted the first Keyblade at him, and they clashed and imploded in a burst of light. Then we did it again, but they met closer to him and he took damage._

_This time three flew at me. I only had time to get two shots off, and they blew up in front of my face. The sixth shot I deflected; Luxord had a single card left and I had three Keyblades, but I was afraid that I wouldn't be fast enough. "Withdraw or perish!" He spun and fired his card._

_"Light!" I charged forward and broke through Luxord's weapon. "Playtime's over!" With four slashes, I cut through the monster and landed on his other side. _

_"Aargh!" He sank to his knees. "All…alright…I fold." His outfit reverted to normal. "I will withdraw…for now." A pool of darkness appeared at his feet, and Luxord disappeared. _

_There was an explosion of light Xarayla was back. She looked sort of disheveled, but otherwise fine, and she unexpectedly ran over hugged me. "Oh, you're okay! Good. Wait! What am I doing?" She backed off and smoothed her outfit down. "What's that you've got there?"_

_I looked where she was pointing and held up a charm that seemed to be a black outline of a heart. "I dunno."_

_"What happened? I couldn't see anything, but I heard you two dueling, and then I had to fight some golden glowing things…So?" I related the story in between winces—I was pretty banged up. That battle took a lot out of me, and I sadly didn't have anything to cure myself with. The powers I had in the heat of battle disappeared whenever the danger was past. _

_Xarayla frowned. I wonder if Luxord will be back at the Castle that Never Was. I'm sure that when Zexion finds out about this he'll—"_

_"You go back and tell him. I've gotta go do something." Without another word I stepped into the green circle, and I was back at Castle Oblivion. The pep in my step was back, but my questions were unanswered. "Hey, um…spirit-person?"_

_"You can call me Ventus."_

_"Right…Ventus. Anyways, what is this thing?" I held up the strange object._

_"It's called a 'keychain.' Take the one off the weapon you have now and exchange them, and you'll see what it does." I clipped the heart onto the hook at the bottom, and my Keyblade flashed. The blade was now a wand like Xarayla's, the hand guard was a hexagonal deck of cards, and the tip was the top of a top hat._

_"Cool!"_

_"Yeah, I know. It'll make your weapon stronger, and as long as you keep collecting them and using you can keep up with your enemies. By the way, have you found any Oblivious Remnants yet?"_

_I scratched my head. "Uh…what?"_

_"Castle Oblivion is in pieces. I was able to protect this small room, but the rest of the building was completely destroyed. 'Remnants' are cards that can bring back parts of Castle Oblivion. If you find them, you will find the truth."_

_"What truth?"_

_The voice didn't answer._

_I sat down in the throne. "If that's all you're going to say, then I need to know about someone."_

_"And who might that be?"_

_"Tell me…tell me about Sora."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>?<strong>_

I didn't know how long I'd been walking.

The last thing I'd remembered was stepping off into the darkness. I'd fallen for a minute or two, but then I landed on a hardened rock pathway and started walking. The only other things besides the passageway and the forever sable sky were the black creatures that swarmed around, trying to attack me but falling victim to my Keyblade.

Every once in a while there was a flash of light. It would sparkle briefly and then go out, but never the less it was always ahead of me and I never got there fast enough. Right now I was sitting on a rock on a plaza-like place: it was wide so several people could stand side by side atop it.

If there were any other people here.

_You know, there's always light in the deepest darkness._

I looked around. The voice had dropped out of the sky, and I knew I wasn't going crazy because I could see a bluish form flickering in front of me.

"Who are you?"

The frame of the person solidified, but that was as far as it went. _I'm your light. Even when all hope is lost, even when no one can help you, you will always have your light inside you._

"But…what are you saying?"

_You needed help, and no one can ignore a plea forever._

"I wasn't asking for a plea."

_Your heart was._ The outline raised an arm and fired a beam of light into the sky. _It's been asking for help for so long I couldn't ignore it anymore, and now you have to come back to the real world. You're still needed by your friends._

A crystal orb formed around me and suddenly I was flying through the air, towards the hole in the darkness. With a jolt my sphere passed inside and I collapsed on the ground, slowly getting to my knees. I was standing in a town, with various shops and such clustered around this plaza. Off in the distance I could see the massive ruins of a building that had long since crumbled—_hold it. Am I in_…_Radiant Garden?_ I asked some of the people working in the shops, and sure enough I was on that world. "But how did it get so…destroyed?"

"You don't know?" The man looked surprised. He filled me in on the whole history, and I gasped in shock. Most of the names I didn't recognize, but there were one or two that stuck out that I'd heard before.

"Did you say…Sora? _He_ did all this?"

"Yeah, last year. He went back to Destiny Islands to stay soon after."

"Is there a way off this world?" I'd noticed that my armor had disappeared, so I would have to go after him some other way.

"Uh, you could go ask Cid. He's part of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, and he might be able to whip up something for you."

"Sure. Where can I find him?"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Vacurai<strong>_

I stood up. My back ached and my head hurt from landing on it, but otherwise I was fine. _Wonder where I am now?_ My surroundings weren't really that spectacular like Destiny Islands or creepy like Halloween Town; a few shops were the only things here. In the distance was a ruin of some amazing building that had crumbled over time, and I assumed it used to be a castle long ago. There weren't any monsters here as far as I could tell, but I decided to watch for them anyways.

I was heading towards the shop with the neon shield over it when everything froze. I don't mean "encased in ice," I literally mean stopped. The air even seemed to stand still, but I could move. Suddenly an explosion of dark energy flamed out of the center of the square and I drew Full House, ready for anything.

At least, I told myself that. The…thing that stood in front of me looked normal. It had an adolescent figure, taller than me but with a similar build, and it wore an Organization XIII coat but instead of being white or black it was a deep scarlet with X-like emblems patterned all over it. That was where the normality stopped. Every sense of mine went off when I stared at the thing. I could literally _feel_ the waves of hatred and darkness radiating off of it, so strong that it almost knocked me down.

_"Vacurai,"_ it drawled in a voice so malicious that I shuddered.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

The figure seemed to hiss with laughter. _"You don't remember? Shame on you, Civaruxa. You have _such_ a short memory."_ He started to walk towards me, and I almost flinched when he put his hands on my shoulders. _"I was your mentor. Your saving grace, if you must, but I hate those words. The _light _in them…" _He unclenched his fists and stepped backwards.

"I remember most of my past, and you aren't anywhere in it. I doubt you are even in the part I don't remember."

He hissed again. _"You do realize, don't you, that your life is wrong?"_

I lowered my weapon. "What?"

The monster started pacing. _"This universe has laws, Vacurai, laws that don't like to be broken. I was the one who…took you in…but now, I have to destroy you. I am the enforcer of these very strict laws, and since you took so much interest in them I never thought you'd devote your life to breaking them."_

I scoffed. "You're making this all up. And by the way, how did you know what was in my memories, anyways?"

He stopped, facing away from me. _"Vacurai, do you remember anything before you awoke in Castle Oblivion? Do you remember the fights you had? The reasons I taught you all your signature moves and gave you the powers of the universe?"_

I growled and raised my weapon again. "I have no idea what you're talking about! Stop your nonsense! Who are you?"

The figure sighed. _"Your doom…if I must."_ He spun around and summoned two fiery trails of darkness that appeared to act like whips. _"I am sorry, Vacurai, for what I'm about to do."_

"Well, I'm not! Draw!" I darted forward, but a second later I found myself on my back, my vision completely black and my head still spinning. I couldn't even move, for goodness sakes!

I heard the monster sigh once again. _"You're weak, not worth destroying now. I'll be back…on a future date…and then we will clash."_ I felt the wind whipping around me, trying to lift me into the air. _"Until then, remember, Vacurai. You aren't who you're supposed to be, and your weapon is not what you think it is."_

Moments later, I was falling.

And screaming and flailing around, of course.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Lilith<strong>_

"'I just know Vacurai's connected somehow,' I said. 'He's probably right at the heart of this whole Un-Light thing. He and Leal always have one foot in whatever bucket they're exploring, and usually they are arguing about who's stronger.' 'Well, do you have any idea where he might be?' asked Riku. 'No, not really. How are we going to find him if we can't even get off this world?' Everyone was silent. After a minute or two, though, Prism raised her arm. 'How about a gummi ship?' Roxas frowned. 'Nobody knows how to build one. There aren't even any parts down here. And how do you know about them, anyways?' She ignored the question. 'Alright then, what if we go back the way we came and ask that girl Ariel if she knows a way out of here?' I grinned. 'Maybe…yeah! Her father, Poseidon, might have something to help us. He is one of the gods, after all. Lead the way, Riku!'After we got to Poseidon's castle—Lair? I can't remember the term—he asked us what we were doing. Ariel asked her father to let us use the Experimental Telportal Box, but he absolutely forbade it and sent us off. Naturally, thanks to Riku's bright idea, we broke into the underwater lab and tried to steal it, which also naturally landed us in the dungeon. We sat apart from each-other, thinking our own thoughts and in some cases contemplating an escape plan. Roxas's and Riku's Keyblades didn't work on the door for some reason, and my wand wasn't any help either. So there I was, staring at the keyhole, when Terra's voice rang through my head. He said: 'Help comes from unexpected places,' and he was right. One of the guards came in and set some food on the gravity platform that kept things from floating away, but he accidentally left the door open, and we took our chance. You know the rest of that."

Leal nodded.

**Vacurai and company sit in a bamboo jail. Nobody is talking, but when he sees the video camera he starts speaking. "What…whadda you think? Nice…cliffhanger, eh?" He then proceeds to pass out and fall into the open arms of Prism, who sighs and sits him up. **

**"Sorry about that, everybody. He got shot with a poison arrow, and while it didn't kill him, it sort of…drugged him to the point of stupidity." **

**Axel, sitting in the corner by the door, smiles. "I can hear the guard coming, so get ready, you guys. I'll carry Vacurai, and you ambush the guard and take his keys. Alright?"**

**Everyone nods, and Prism turns back to the camera. "Well, I've gotta go. Please review, readers. Vacurai needs to start getting feedback, so he can start to understand that this fiction is totally **_**boring.**_**"**

**(Just to clear it up, the words in bold are my author notes. They are in the form of mini adventures, which appear later in the story after the final battle because King Mickey asks us to…never mind. You'll see…Oh, and if you think you have a clue as to who the mystery person was, you're completely wrong. See if you can guess...but you never will. MWAHAHAHAHA!)**


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